Assignment: Types of Memory

In the 1950s, Henry Molaison (known as H.M.) underwent surgery to treat epilepsy. This resulted in a cure for his epilepsy but at the cost of his ability to make new explicit memories (anterograde amnesia). Prior to this time, psychologists thought that memory was one system, but H.M.’s deficits demonstrated that memory is comprised of several distinct systems, including long-term and working memory.

How do the various types of memory support your daily life? How would deficits in the functionality of any of the types memory impact your life? What type of deficit do you think would be most profound?

To prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources, considering each of the different types of memory and how they support your daily life. Consider how impairments to memory would affect your daily life.

By Day 7

Write a 4- to 5-page APA-style paper that addresses the following:

• Describe and explain the different types of memory. Include the differences between long-term and working memory and the differences between the various types of long-term memory, including explicit and implicit memory.
• As part of your answer, define and explain anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
• Finally, provide an example of explicit memory and implicit memory in daily life and how your life would be impacted by anterograde amnesia in either long-term memory subsystem.

Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course

Breedlove, S. M., & Watson, N. V. (2019). Behavioral neuroscience (9th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

• Chapter 17, “Learning and Memory”

Carey, B. (2008, December 5). H. M., whose loss of memory made him unforgettable, dies. The New York Times.

Hannula, D. E., & Helmstetter, F. J. (2016). Hippocampal interactions with brain networks that influence learning & memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 134 Pt A, 1–4. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2016.08.018

Milner, B. (n.d.). Reflections on the field of brain and memory: A tribute to HM. NARSAD Research Quarterly, 24–25. doi:10.1037/e546432011-008

Watson, D. J., Ostroff, L., Cao, G., Parker, P. H., Smith, H., & Harris, K. M. (2016). LTP enhances synaptogenesis in the developing hippocampus. Hippocampus, 26(5), 560–576. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/h…
LTP enhances synaptogenesis in the developing hippocampus by Watson, D.J., Ostroff, L., Cao, G., Parker, P.H., Smith, H., & Harris, K.M, in Hippocampus, Vol. 26/Issue 5. Copyright 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Required Media

Doolittle, P. (2013, June). Peter Doolittle: How your “working memory” makes sense of the world [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your…
Note: The length of this media is approximately 9 minutes.

Fogel, B. (Producer). (2015, July 10). Forget-me-not: How prions maintain memory [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/forget-me-n…
Note: The length of this media is approximately 12 minutes.

Kean, S. (2014, August). Sam Kean: What happens when you remove the hippocampus? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_kean_what_happens_wh…
Note: The length of this media is approximately 5 minutes.

Loftus, E. (2013, June). Elizabeth Loftus: How reliable is your memory? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_loftus_the_fic…
Note: The length of this media is approximately 18 minutes.

Yue, C. (n.d.). Long term potentiation and synaptic plasticity. Retrieved May 2, 2019, from https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-med…
Note: The length of this media is approximately 3 minutes.

Sinauer Associates, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). AMPA and NMDA receptors. Available from https://oup-arc.com/access/breedlove9e-student-res…

• Animation 17.2 with your textbook

Note: The length of this media is approximately 3 minutes.

Optional Resource

Optional Reading

Glickstein, M. (2014). Neuroscience: A historical introduction. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

• Chapter 14, “Learning and Memory”

Note: You will access this resource through the Walden Library databases.